Groups from the groups Stop the F-35 and Save Our Skies called for a conversation with the senator about basing the F-35 fighter jet in South Burlington.

“They’re all down in Florida,” one woman shouted to the crowd, referencing Gov. Peter Shumlin, D-Vt., and Mayors Miro Weinberger of Burlington and Michael O’Brien of Winooski’s trip to Elgin Air Force Base to see the jets in action.

“How can we solve the deficit? Push these jets off the fiscal cliff,” others chanted.

A handful of protesters then went inside the building, demanding to talk to the senator.

“We’re not going to have a phone call,” Leahy’s state director John Tracy said to the group. “Look, he’s not going to have a phone conversation with you today.”

Protesters said they want to hear from Leahy, who along with Shumlin and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., have stated basing the F-35 in Vermont is best for the state.

“I would think that the senator, given that we gave you at least 10 days advance warning, would be more than open to having -- increasing this dialogue,” said Christopher Hurd.

Tracy said the senator has been part of the dialogue, but he has not been part of the eight public forums discussing the basing of the jet at the airport.

His staff also said it’s not the senator’s decision to base the plane in Vermont, but the Air Force’s.

“He is right now working on issues that matter a lot to this country, like the fiscal cliff, the farm bill, the violence against women act -- he is engaged,” Tracy said. “I will tell him you came in I will share with him what you said ... Today it's not working that way.”

“I and the members of the Vermont delegation have facilitated communication between Vermonters and the Air Force and I have responded to hundreds of Vermonters with questions about the F-35 basing decision,” Leahy said in a statement. “I have made it clear that I support noise abatement steps, just as operational controls limit F-16 noise at the airport today.”

Opponents of the F-35 are attempting another legal strategy against bringing the planes to Vermont. Lawyers have filed a petition to get the city of Burlington to file a new Act 250 permit if the F-35 were to be based at the airport.

That filing would require the state’s environmental court to rule on its jurisdiction at the airport. That decision would be appealed.

The Air Force will make its decision on basing the F-35 in Vermont next year.